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Where can the middle class afford to buy a home today? Affordability has worsened in the past year, as home prices have climbed faster than incomes and mortgage rates have risen. But compared with the longer-term past, homeownership still looks relatively affordable: home prices are still undervalued and mortgage rates remain near historic lows. In most U.S. markets, the majority of homes for sale are within reach of the middle class, and buying is cheaper than renting in all of the 100 largest metros. However, in many markets, especially along the coasts, homeownership is out of reach for the middle class. Even having a college degree is no guarantee that homeownership is within reach in the priciest markets. There's no easy way to make housing more affordable, though new construction can help. As in our inaugural middle-class affordability report , we calculated the share of for-sale homes on Trulia that are affordable to a middle-class household, based on whether the total monthly payment - mortgage , insurance, and property taxes - was less than 31% of the metro area's median household income. (See note below.) Because we define "middle class" separately for each metro based on the local median household income, our affordability measure takes into account that a middle-class income is higher in some markets than in others. For instance, for a middle-class family in the Denver metro area, where median household income is just under $62,500, homes priced under $325,000 are within reach based on the 31% guideline. Of the homes listed for sale in Denver on May 6, 2014, 50% cost less than that - which means that half of Denver homes are within reach of the middle class. Middle Class Getting Priced Out of California But Not Midwest In 80 of the 100 largest U.S. metros, most of the homes for sale today are within reach of the middle class. In the most affordable housing markets, more than 80% of homes are within reach, with Akron topping the list at 86...

Greenspan Says JPMorgan Like Fannie Mae With US Backing Bloomberg JPMorgan, the nation&#39;s largest bank, is an example of implicit government guarantees not measured in the nation&#39;s official public-debt statistics, Greenspan, 88, said today at a forum in Washington organized by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. The reality is&nbsp;... and more&nbsp;&raquo;

Bay Area Home Prices Continue to Rise; Sales Up from March, Flat Yr/Yr May 14, 2014 La Jolla, CA.----The median price paid for a home in the Bay Area rose to a new post-recession high in April as potential buyers continued to scramble in a seller's market of limited supply. The number of homes sold was virtually flat compared with a year ago, a real estate information service reported. A total of 7,555 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county Bay Area last month. That was up 19.8 percent from 6,308 in March and down 0.9 percent from 7,621 in April a year ago, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. Bay Area sales generally increase from March to April, but the 19.8 percent increase this year was high. The average increase is 4.8 percent. Since 1988, when DataQuick's statistics begin, April sales have ranged from the low of 5,636 in 1995 to a high of 14,430 in 2004. Last month's sales were 15.9 percent below the average 8,978 for April since 1988. Bay Area sales haven't been above average for any particular month in more than eight years. "While there are some interesting sub-surface trends, isn't what we're looking at fairly straightforward? The Bay Area economy is relatively strong, a lot of people have well-paying jobs or have saved money, or both. So we have X number of dollars chasing Y number of available homes. In this scenario, what we should see soon is more homes being put up for sale," said John Karevoll, DataQuick analyst. The median price paid for a home in the nine-county Bay Area rose last month to $610,000, the highest since it was $629,500 in November 2007. Last month's median increased 5.4 percent from $579,000 in March, and rose 19.6 percent from $510,000 in April last year. On a year-over-year basis, the median has increased the last 25 months, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. The median peaked at $665,000 in June and July 2007, then dropped to a low of $290,000 in March 2009. That means...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) &#8211; Mortgage servicer Green Tree failed more than one-quarter of tests that assess how it treats struggling borrowers, a watchdog said on Wednesday, adding further pressure on nonbank servicers who have faced increasing concerns from regulators. Green Tree, a subsidiary of Walter Investment Management Corp, had acquired mortgage servicing rights from a unit [&#8230;]

Wednesday's Journal leads with a story noting how Washington is doing a U-turn on certain policies and regulations that have tightened mortgage-lending standards over the last few years. Here's a look at some key questions and answers.

Big Banks Said to Improve Loan Servicing Under Mortgage Accord Bloomberg The banks have fixed problems ranging from failing to notify customers when loan-modification documents are missing to failing to terminate force-placed insurance policies in a timely manner, Joseph A. Smith said in a report released today. Mortgage&nbsp;... and more&nbsp;&raquo;

Comptroller of the Currency Thomas J. Curry today discussed the importance of effective bank supervision at federal and state levels to ensure a safe and sound financial system for the entire country that can meet the needs of communities and a national economy.

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